Through the game you will find resources In three forms, small ground loot which you can grab, its free so just nab it. Hand min-able surface deposits that take time and award a total of 60 (or 30), I tend to save them for when they are needed. And Deep deposits, which you need to scan for and then build an outpost on.

Has floor loot, Surface deposits and, Deep deposits.

Has floor loot, Surface deposits and, Deep deposits.

Has floor loot, Surface deposits and, Deep deposits.

Has floor loot, Surface deposits half the size of the other three and, Deep deposits.

Only has Deep deposits which are lightly Irradiated, when mining you will get Metal and EM which can be processed in the Refinery for Metal and Organic.

Has none of the usual, It is grab-able off of the floor in the spots where you destroy Anomalies.

This is grown in the greenhouse but is still a vital resource.

These are collected via the Interal Anomalies and following their trail, if you spend enough time in each act you can get 2 in Act 1, 5 in Act 2 and 3 in Act 3 for a total of 10 planetary samples.

Final word, If your Resources at the bottom of your screen show a grey + amount then that means they are queued or upheld for something and if you want to "reclaim" them you need to cancel the queue, this is especially important when moving between acts, cancel the greenhouse queue so all your Organics are usable.

When in the Production menu you can queue normally which is a one and done production and only available when you have the resources, alternatively you can middle click to set an Uphold and you can do this regardless of resource amounts.

Any uphold will mean that your base will auto queue that item to be made if it is below the amount you set. this can be done for all Production modules not just the workshop.

Be warned queued, upheld and in construction items costs will still show up in your resources as a greyed out + amount which you cannot access without cancelling them, this is important at the end of acts and you are struggling with organic costs for travel, you may need to clear anything that costs organic so that you have the full amount available to you.

Suggested Upholds for ease/comfort
Cooked meals x10 or 2 x your base population
Radiation filters x5
Repair kits x5 till some time in act 2 then x10
Suit batteries x2 (more can be good but 2 is more than enough for most situations)
Drill charges x2 (great for exploring and unlocking paths)
Shield recharges aren't something I Uphold since I don't use them but if you find yourself struggling with Anomalies or want to just run through them then set an Uphold of them.

There are only two mandatory Alters for the game the Technician and the Scientist the others are all completely free to pick.

The other branches and Alters are the Miner, the Botanist, the Refiner, the Worker, the Doctor, the Shrink and, the Guard. plus one secret Alter you can get at the end of Act 2.

Alters wont do any work before 9 am so use that time for social stuff if you need or to do some small quick things for the day ahead.

The best time to make a new alter is right before going to sleep for the day since they will be ready as soon as you wake up and wont take a food before being helpful.

At the end of each day once you are tired is the best time for social interactions such as conversations, beer pong, movies and calls.

Technician Jan is mandatory but helpful, he has faster and better base maintenance and will be your first helper around the base, feel free to have him do anything needed not just fixing the base or things may take a while.

Scientist Jan is mandatory to continue the game since he is the only one who can perform research to unlock new things and provide upgrades but if there is nothing left to research in an act then feel free to have him work elsewhere in the base.

Miner Jan can help with yup you guessed it mining, he has a higher efficiency at mining metal than the other alters so shuffle him around the outposts to gather what you need.

Refiner Jan has higher efficiency at the refining job to turn Rich metals into Metals and Organics but also to make ALX into usable resources with the right tech later on.

Botanist Jan can work the greenhouse best but also is needed for some of the other endings the game has.

Worker Jan will run the workshop the best so if you find yourself upset with how long you or other alters take to craft then grab him.

Doctor Jan will heal your other alters way faster but also makes a mean meal, great for morale and grub.

QC Level 4 Alters
Guard Jan will keep other alter disciplined in the contemplation room, no unions or rebellions in this base.

Shrink Jan will comfort alters in the contemplation room and so they will be happier.

Spoiler secret Alter
Tabula Rasa if created but left alive will join you as an Altar and teach you a life lesson
Alters can die in some circumstances and if they do you cannot recreate them, you can continue on or reload and try to prevent it, up to you.

Static Anomaly: this is the first one you encounter and the most common, you can walk right up to them safely just don't step into them.
Following Anomaly: Second Anomaly and second most common, when found it will slowly move towards you, easily out run-able and manipulated, just don't ignore them and you will be safe.
Interal: These bright shiny nodes are the safest Anomaly in the game and when you shine the Illuminator at them they reveal a trail for you to follow to a node that drops a Planetary sample A high end resource there are a total of 8 in the game.

Pulsating Anomaly: Is an expanding Anomaly with two cores, It will expand to a large size then shrink back down, when small destroying both cores is fairly easy to do.
Time Anomaly: This Anomaly is safe to enter however the closer you get to the middle the faster time passes, although that makes it easier to destroy because the core moves slower.
Energy Wall: Another Anomaly safe to enter, however it will drain your suit battery so beware,It cannot be destroyed but with a later research it can be inverted. Once you have the research for it you can shine the Illuminator and see node in the Energy wall and if you fire it at them they will change, once you have the nodes charged the wall will now charge your suit instead of draining it.

Updated Following Anomaly: You will now encounter normal ones along with the new larger and faster variants which I call Hunters, Hunters are a threat and should be destroyed ASAP.
Prism Anomaly: This new Anomaly is safe to enter and will fracture your screen causing disorientation, when inside of it you need to look for and destroy multiple cores.
If you walk away from it and glance around you can see darker spots before you enter, using that as a guide just try to head in the general direction. If possible, check near walls, sometimes they can hide against the rocks.


Anomalies can show up in new places after Magnetic storms and when the Sunrise is closer, so don't be afraid to stick around till the last day so you can get all of the Interal veins.

I will not claim to know some amazing setup that is 100% efficient or guaranteed to beat the game, the base layout and modules are up to you, I will however advise you.

The big tank of "Liquid" you cant move is your Organics storage and only has more capacity when you upgrade the base size.

Storage, This is important and you need a lot but DO NOT SPAM IT, you can end up making your base too heavy to travel and having to delete items and modules, I tend to add them only when my Alters yell about no storage. There are three sizes however the largest takes a Planetary sample to research.
The Rapidium Ark counts too but is a story Module you can build up to 5 but they are just for taking Rapidium back to earth and provide no storage, These cannot be dismantled once built only moved so maybe stick to only 3 till Act 3, 3 is the required amount to enlist Lucas's help with some stuff.

Core Modules: Mechanical this room is one of the heart pieces of your base, you however rarely need to go to it so keep it out of the way,
Command room this module is one of your most visited modules, this is where you build and expand your base as well as transition to new Acts,
Captains cabin, your bedroom and one way to access the in game info,
Airlock, the most used module and the point that you both enter the base and calculate connections to the base from.

Production modules: Workshop, Refinery, Kitchen, Greenhouse, these modules all are used in the production of items and resources, any base will need these somewhere.

Crew modules: Infirmary used to heal your alters and you can sleep here to lower your radiation, Dormitory provides 4 beds for Alters to sleep in.
Personal cabin, Single bed rooms for Alters, more space consuming overall but sleeping here will make Alters happier than using the Dorm
Social room, The most important room more so than Dorm imo, You can play Beer pong here, if you win your opponent is more motivated, if they win they get a large boost to Joy, you can also watch movies you have collected which Boosts ALL Alters joy and the first watch provides a bonus. be warned it takes 3 in game hours.
Gym, Passive mood booster for just having it
Park with bench, this is a miss-able room Found in Act 2 Passive mood booster for just having it
Contemplation Room, You can assign alters here to improve their moods, if you have the shrink he will aid in this if assigned to work here, or if you have the Guard he will discipline them if assigned to work here.
Recycler, 5 daily organics per Alter on base.

Other modules: Lift, Your main traversal point you will make a lot of these, I tend to make a top to bottom column right in the middle of the base.
Corridor, the same size as the lift and used to space modules out if you have a small hole you need to fill.
Radiation Repulsor, This mid game module is stackable and you can build one per base level to a max of 4/5 it extends the lifespan of your Radiation Filters allowing for a more lax need to produce more, with enough the filters will never expire, These do still work during storms but to a lesser effect.

Are your Alters unhappy? have you had a Rebellion? then let me try to help,
Your dialogue is one of the key parts of your Alters moods but those choices are for you to make.
Provide cooked meals and a bed or you have a daily drain on mood, try to Uphold 2 times your bases population as cooked meals, and build the Dormitory ASAP, now that those two are out of the way let me expand on other ways to boost mood.

Gifts, as you explore you may stumble on crew cargo pods and retrieve personal effects and movies, the items can be giving to Alters via dialogue and will make them happier.

The Social room is your next room to build to aid you and the most useful by far, it has a mini-game and movies, Playing Beer pong allows you to let them win (manually or by skipping) and boost mood, or you can win and that will make them more motivated, Watching movies for the first time provides an emotional boost to the group and a large boost to Joy, re-watching will provide a Joy boost each time but every movie takes 3 in game hours so make sure to have enough time in the day, you don't want to go to bed too late and oversleep.

The Gym provides a passive boost to Alters by allowing them to exercise in their free time.

The Contemplation room is a room where you can send Alters to unwind alone or supervised by the Shrink or Guard each doing a different thing.

The Park with bench, this room is miss-able but provides a place for Alters to go and relax in free time.

If you are near the end of an Act and have a Rebellion quest demanding you do something, you are able to just complete the Act and travel, this will complete it without needing to achieve the set down goal.

Magnetic storms happen multiple times per act, during these storms there is a large amount of radiation at all times but it is survivable and you will even find non metals mine faster so it can be rewarding if you want a boost to a resource, but your base will be taking damage the whole time these are active.

During a storm your Alters enter an emergency schedule and will work more, make sure to assign Mechanic to base repairs and if you have the second slot put another Alter into it for the duration of the storm, if its particularly bad you may need to do repairs as well.

Your rad filters will burn out faster during storms so having a supply of them is recommended you can research a module later the research needs 1 planetary sample, Radiation Repulsor that increases the lifespan of your filters both during and outside of storms with a stacking efficiency.

There is a research to give you a warning about storms approaching that you will be able to get after your first storm, also after each storm there can be an Influx of new floor loot and Anomalies even Interals can show up so make sure to check the map for those or wander around destroying Anomalies and looting the floor.

There is a tier 3/4 researches both need a Planetary sample Module Shields which at level 1 makes modules 50 less likely to break, and at level 2 they never break even in storms. They cost 20/20 Metal, 10/20 Minerals per level and per module, so 40 Metal and 30 Minerals per module to fully protect them.

Act 2 to 3 trick: Module shields refund at 100%. That plus the Personal cabin means you can put 110 metals and 100 minerals into 20 base mass. This is amazing for moving into Act 3.

There are several free researches that you can do and plenty that need a planetary sample to get, samples are finite but you could beat the game without getting any. my general rule of thumb is to spend them on researches you think will make YOUR life easier, for example a lot of people like to get the Auto miner and its efficiency upgrade, I personally like the Suit upgrades and Module shields you can go with whatever ones you like.

There are a total of 10 planetary samples in the game, 2 in Act 1, 5 in Act 2 and 3 in Act 3, so bear this in mind when picking which researches you want that require them.

Rule 1: Don't think about sunrise unless it tells you its within less than 5 days.

Rule 2: Explore thoroughly, you never know what you might miss if you don't.

Rule 3: You can dismantle a room for the same cost as building it (the refund amount is lowered the more damaged it is and is 0% when fully broken) so don't be scared of building whatever you want, Rapidium Arks cannot be refunded so only moved so to save space don't build more than 3 before Act 3 to save space.

Rule 4: Grab any small loot you see when you see it (space allowing) and leave the hand mine-able resources for when you need them.

Rule 5: Be aware of anomalies but don't be scared.

Rule 6: You should have an uphold for anything you need on a regular basis or emergency such as Radiation filters, Repair kits, Suit batteries, Raw food ,Meals, Ect.

Your Organics are in their own unique storage that only expands with base upgrades, everything else goes into storage so manage that as needed.

If your Resources at the bottom of your screen show a grey + amount then that means they are queued or upheld for something

Even if greyed out try to interact with things like climbing spots, so that you can get the relevant research available.

Alters can die in some circumstances and if they do you cannot recreate them, you can continue on or reload and try to prevent it, up to you.

If your workshop breaks and you have no kits to repair it you can always build a new one have kits made then refund it, rooms at full health give a full refund on their materials, the more damaged they are the less they refund all the way to 0% refund if its completely broken.

The Day you see when playing or seeing someone else's game is not a date it is how many days since they started so depending on how you play whether is quickly or slowly the day you are on and get events will be different every time for you and others.

Please don't exclude Alters just because people say they are useless or boring, that is their opinion, you should play the way you want to and enjoy all of the Alters stories and lessons.

People who have added to this guide will be credited here, thanks for any additions suggested.

Angel/Aolith from Reddit

@Kexxar from steam pointed out Rapidium Arks cannot be dismantled

@Belial Fortetu gave the info on the module refunds